


-when skies are hanged and oceans drowned,

by glorious_clio



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I'm so tired, please let me know when star wars stops being so relevant to our current... mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 17:57:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16539401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_clio/pseuds/glorious_clio
Summary: Bail's had enough, and goes home to Breha.They know just how to take care of each other.US readers over 18 cannot read this until they vote.





	-when skies are hanged and oceans drowned,

**Author's Note:**

> “The Talmud states, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
> 
> ― Bridges McCall
> 
> I am not Jewish, but I am empathetic and full of horror and dread at what happened on the 27th of October, 2018. And basically every single day in the last two years. We are in some shit, my friends. Anyway, this is my coping strategy, just give all my feelings to my favorite characters and then eat too much Chinese food. 
> 
> US readers over the age of 18 - you can’t read this today until you go vote, sorry, I don’t make the rules, it’s just civic duty magic.

He came to her, half-frozen, soaked from the driving rain outside.

“B,” she said.

And she drew him up to their apartments in Aldra Palace.

(Moments ago, a handmaiden gently woke her, “Your Grace, the Viceroy just transmitted his clearance code, he’ll be landing momentarily,” and Breha Organa had nearly lept out of bed, pulled on a robe, and rushed down to the entrance hall, hiding her shock when she saw him.)

He couldn’t speak, his breathing was shallow. Breha waved off the help offered by the staff. She stoked the fire in her bedroom herself, peeled the wet layers of clothing from him, toweled him off, helped him into his warmest dressing gown, forced slippers on his feet. She wrapped him in a blanket and settled him on the couch in front of the fire. She left him to make them both tea laced with her strongest brandy.

When she came back with the mugs, he had stopped shivering.

“Shall I call for a physician?”

“No,” Bail said roughly. His voice was still defrosting.  

She pushed the mug into his hands. “Drink this.”

“Where’s Leia?”  

“Asleep. Ideally until morning, but if she knows you’re here...” Breha trailed off. Even at nine months old, despite not being verbal yet, she seemed to know Bail’s every move when he was on Alderaan. And the heartbreaking sobs at his departure to the Senate could last hours. Bail and Breha worried about her sensitivities, as they called them, even in private. But she would learn, in time. For now, Breha hoped she would sleep.

Bail took a sip of the brandy-laced tea, coughing a bit in surprise, then took a deeper gulp. Breha curled up next to him on the couch, pulling another blanket over both of them. She scooted as close to him as she could, then sipped at her own mug.  

If possible, it was raining even harder now, and the wind had picked up. The fire before them crackled loudly, and the flames were the only source of light in the bedroom. Breha wanted to ask what had brought him here, so unexpectedly. He was clearly suffering, but still, he didn’t speak. She let him rest, let him warm up, but Breha knew she’d have to draw the poison out. Hopefully the brandy would loosen his tongue.

When they finished their tea, Breha settled their mugs on a side table. She wrapped her husband in an embrace, and he seemed to melt a little into her arms. She smiled, reached up and kissed his neck. There was stubble on his face and his hair was a mess.

“It’s been nine months,” Bail said. His voice was still fragile and close to breaking. The frost in his soul had made everything brittle. “It’s been nine months and everything we’ve feared about Palpatine has proven true.”

“Tell me,” she said. She knew some of it, she had to pay attention. Her governors brought her a fresh horror everyday, something she missed in the day’s briefings. Already Alderaan had opened its doors to refugees, organized aid across the galaxy. Bail’s sisters were recalibrating - joining forces and creating a new nonprofit to help minority populations on other planets elect officials the reflected their demographics. Even Deara’s art had taken more overtly political overtones. Miko had begun consulting on other planets as well, going over legal documents and protecting other beings that may be at risk. Anla’s new poetry could probably be considered illegal on Coruscant.

Silence fell again. She nudged him after a moment. “You’re safe here, B.”

“I know. I’m talking to you.”

She tightened her arms around him.

“There... were attacks on three Churches of the Force on Faargau,” he began. The Church of the Force had risen in response to the slaughter of the Jedi. “Eighty beings are dead.”

He swallowed. That wasn’t all, Breha knew.

“Meanwhile, refugees from Rafa IV have been fleeing Hutt enslavement - but on Rafa V, Palpatine’s troopers have been separating children from their caretakers, and so far, we can’t get him to promise to reunification.”

“Oh, my goddess, Bail. All those children?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes. “Holonet reporters have been murdered, and activists and resistant workers have been murdered too. Mon Mothma was mailed a bomb. War criminals have been appointed to the Galactic Courts. The blackmarket arms trade has gotten out of control on Jabor - two students brought blasters to school, and....”

“Kriff,” Breha said softly.

“I needed you,” Bail said. “I needed you to tell me everything is okay.”

“Well, everything is _not_ okay,” Breha said. “And we’re working to fix it. But you’re here now, and you clearly need the break.”

He took a shuddering breath, then nodded.

“Palpatine wants us tired, so tired that we can’t get back up. So rest today. And soon, you’ll find the strength to get back up.” She stood and pulled him up. “Come on, B. Let’s get you tucked into bed. And next time, don’t wait so long to come to me.”

He followed her wordlessly, kicking off his slippers and crawling under the covers.

After banking the fire in the hearth, she once again curled next to his side, resting her hand on his heart so she could feel it under her fingertips.  

“If we are completely honest with ourselves,” she began, “this is going to get worse before it gets better. This is going to hurt, a lot. The resistance we mount against him, we’re going to take a lot of losses. But remember this, Bail Organa. We are not alone in this fight. We will bring others in. And there will be a day of victory.”

“You really believe that?”

“I have to,” she replied. “For us, for our people, for Leia.” She held Luke’s name back, but he heard it. Some things were better left unsaid. He lifted her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, then settled it back on his chest.

“I love you, B,” he told her.

“Try and sleep,” she said softly. “I’ll stand guard.”

“With a sword?”

She smiled at him in the low light. “If you like, I can get one.”

“No. Stay.” His hand tightened around hers.

“Always.”

She soothed her hand over him, and watched as he slowly, finally, slid into a deep sleep. Tomorrow, she would wake him up by turning Leia loose on him, she would be delighted to see her father. After a morning of attending to her work, Breha would drag them both on a short hike. She’d definitely have to catch him alone, push him back on their bed and see if she could get him to relax. If he stayed another day, she could see about going south to spend a day at the beach, possibly with his sisters. The water may even be warm enough to introduce Leia to the ocean. Maybe dinner with Anla and Miko if they were available.

Eventually, he would have to go back to the Senate, and they would have to go back to the fight.

For now, they would take care of each other, so they could take care of the galaxy. 


End file.
